Lom Darus
}} |} Lom Darus is an Imperial scientist unknowingly responsible for conducting genetic research for Project FlashDeath in the Rayzur's Edge Audio drama Second Strike. Biography Lom Darus was born on Coruscant, twenty five years before the Battle of Yavin. In his youth, Darus was courted through the Imperial Science Academy system, which hoped to groom a new generation of top scientists to assist in meeting the Empire’s ever-growing need for greater technological and biological terror weapons. The true goal of the program, of course, was not revealed to the idealistic young men who entered the system. Ostensibly, the Empire’s goal in funding educations for these brilliant youngsters was to further the cause of science for its own sake, seeking a sort of renewed “golden age” for the galaxy at large. The brilliant (but rather naïve) Darus took the Empire at its word. After a lifetime of paid schooling, he was beholden to the government that educated him. Darus had been born in the slums of Coruscant, where opportunities to improve one’s status in life often required illegal activities or personal degradation. His entrance into Imperial education was a fortuitous event in his young life, and he was well aware of how much he had benefited from the opportunity. Owing allegiance to the Empire was not a major ethical dilemma for Dr. Darus, though. Throughout his career, he had never seen his own research utilized for anything other than the furtherance of more research. Around the time of the Battle of Yavin, Darus was transferred to a secret Imperial research facility in Pri'gorod, the capital city of Ferri'sol. Darus' specialty over the years had been DNA recombination and the practical use of what he referred to as "tamed" pathogens, particularly viral agents. The project was kept secret from the outside world, even from Imperial Moff Arilus Dehrahn, the ruler of Ferri'sol. In actuality, the project was not just biological research, but bioweapons research. Operating under the name "Project FlashDeath" in what little documentation existed in Imperial Intelligence and R&D databases, the goal of the research was to create an "ultimate pathogen," which could be used if necessary by Emperor Palpatine, much like the biological weapon that would later be discovered by the Diversity Alliance and stopped by young Jedi Knights from Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Praxeum. Fourteen months after the Battle of Endor and the death of Palpatine, resupply missions and communications to the planet became more and more scarce. In desperation, believing their funding had been cut, Darus hired a local slicer to assist him in accessing highly encrypted databanks within the facility, hoping to discover what was happening during an apparent communications blackout. The first major wake-up call to Dr. Darus was a single name, repeated over and over again in the records: "FlashDeath." Further investigation by Darus revealed the true purpose of the project, forcing him to face the truth that his research was no longer hypothetical, nor benevolent, but the tool through which a malevolent government might bring entire civilizations to their knees. Using a contact within the Pri'gorod Resistance, Elimy Vasage, Darus contacted the New Republic, offering to trade computer files regarding the project and Ferri’sol’s defenses, along with his own loyalty, in return for asylum and amnesty from the potential war crimes that he had no idea he was helping to commit. Three weeks later, Darus arranged to be "kidnapped" from the FlashDeath facility by a team from New Republic Intelligence, DLEG (the Delta-Lambda Exfiltration Group), led by Tavis Malif. All went well, until a neighbor of Dr. Darus, who happened to be in the area at the time, noticed the "kidnapping" and alerted Imperial authorities. Within minutes, Imperials were swarming the area. Every member of D-LEG was killed, except for Captain Kristara Eri'lur. She and Darus escaped on foot, pursued by Dehrahn’s forces. When finally cornered by Dehrahn himself, along with a pair of stormtroopers, Darus, having lost all true hope of escape, chose to die with honor, attempting to strike Dehrahn before he could do further harm to an already subdued Kristara. For his efforts, Darus was killed by a blaster shot to the face at point-blank range. His attempt at saving Eri'lur from Dehrahn's tender mercies had been in vain, but his actions in alerting the New Republic to the FlashDeath research helped cause the liberation of Ferri'sol, more than Darus had ever hoped possible. Sources *''Rayzur's Edge Audio Guidebook'' Appearances *''Second Strike, Act I: Descent'' Behind the Scenes *Darus was voiced by Christopher Hanel, who also portrayed Klo'pa'deen, TE-520, and Hammer 3 in Second Strike. Hanel also provided the mixing for Descent, the first act of Second Strike, and served as that act's closing narrator. External Links [http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/secondstrike.html Second Strike at Star Wars Fanworks] Category:Characters